Roemer leaving GOP, but not presidential campaign

Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:52 AM EST

FILE - In a Thursday, July 21, 2011 file photo, former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer announces that he will run for the Republican nomination and become a candidate for president of the United States at the Hanover Inn on the Dartmouth College campus in Hanover, N.H. Roemer, whose quest for the Republican presidential nomination has drawn little attention, plans to drop from contention with the GOP and run as an independent. Roemer says he will make a formal statement on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)

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BATON ROUGE — Former Louisiana Gov. Charles "Buddy" Roemer is abandoning his bid to win the Republican presidential nomination and will instead try to run as an independent candidate.

Roemer says he will make a formal announcement Thursday in California.

The 68-year-old former congressman who barely registered in polling on the GOP race said he will try to become the nominee of Americans Elect. The nonpartisan group is pushing for a third-party candidate to run against President Barack Obama and the eventual GOP nominee.

Roemer also plans to seek the nomination of the Reform Party.

Roemer served one-term as Louisiana governor from 1988 to 1992. He had built his presidential campaign on lambasting special interests in politics. He limited campaign donations to $100 and refused money from political action committees.